The Teddy Bear
by OPYKJ
Summary: The poor thing had been in the wars. Jack sympathised. Established S/J relationship. Set just before S04E03 of Stargate Atlantis - Reunion.


_My first 100% foray in the Stargate fandom. Hope you like it.  
Unbetaed.  
_

* * *

The soft toy resembled a big ball of lint forgotten for thirty years at the back of a clothes dryer, crossed with something from an ancient tomb that even Daniel would not touch. Why Jacob had kept this sorry specimen for so long was a mystery. Too ancient to be one of his grandkids' teddy bears, so it must have been Mark's. Jack doubted Sam's brother would ask for it back.

A few thumping sounds told him Sam was busy in the basement. Today was the last day they had free to clear the house together before putting it on the market. With Sam going to head Atlantis, they had decided to keep the apartment he had bought in Washington. Even on a General's salary, he hadn't been able to afford more than a two-bedroom condo downtown from the Pentagon, hence the need to throw out stuff which would not make the journey east. That task included rummaging through boxes that Sam had brought over from her Dad's house two years before, and obviously never opened.

Jack picked up the toy with two fingers, ready to throw it in the box marked Trash. Everything was beige about it, except for a few rosy patches under the arms. He didn't see young Sam, with freckles and pony tail—he was sure she had freckles when she was a kid—having a pink teddy bear because that would have been too girly for her. Charlie's had been blue, of course. He had picked it up himself from the store shelf, reaching on tippy-toes for the biggest bear on offer. Sara must have kept it because Jack could not remember when he had last seen it.

He sat down on the lone chair in the middle of the room. Somehow, with the upheaval in his life over the past two years, he hadn't thought of Charlie as much. The counsellors Sara and he had seen had said the pain would go away with time, that he had to let it come and almost drown him, but it would become less pressing, less suffocating. That he would laugh and watch other people's kids one day without thinking of Charlie as if on automatic rewind. Then had come the years at the SGC—hard, full on, and fun too. But there had been many lonely evenings and nights when Charlie would visit him and not let him rest.

Being married to Sam had been good for his soul, although it still surprised him to find his wife stretched beside him when he woke up every morning, and taking all the blankets like a cat needing warmth. With her in his life, the memories of his son were finally loosening one thread at a time, like the toy he was holding.

Its fur was patchy, one eye had gone missing as well as part of the ears, and its right leg was dislocated at the joint. The poor thing had been in the wars. Jack sympathised.

The sun caught on a row of tiny metal pins on its chest, and Jack took his glasses out his shirt pocket to have a better look. Most of the pins had fallen off, leaving holes in the thin fabric. A couple were still intact though, a small emblem he did not recognise, and one which looked suspiciously like the Air Force Academy flag.

It was Sam's teddy bear.

A pair of warm arms moved down his chest from behind, and a long finger pointed to the unidentified insignia. "That was the first and only time my school hockey team won the inter-school sports carnival."

"I didn't know you played hockey, Sam."

"Had to. It was that or tennis. Can you see me playing tennis?" she snorted in his neck.

Jack would watch his wife play any sport she wanted. And win hands-down. "Great game, hockey. Good for the hand-eye coordination, although not so for the knees." He pointed to the small blue flag. "And that one?"

"That's when I received the news I had been accepted at the academy. But I didn't dare take my teddy bear with me, so I left it at my dad's house. To be honest, I thought Dad had thrown it away years ago. He was never one for keeping mementos."

Jack was not so sure. Jacob had kept Sam's teddy bear because he loved his daughter.

Sam took the bear from Jack's hand and moved to the window, her silhouette blocking the sunshine. "My mom gave it to me. I can't remember for which birthday."

That explained the bear's colour and his wife's wistful voice, Jack thought.

She turned around, all decisive again. "This is definitely not going to Washington. Not worth cluttering the apartment." She dropped the toy on top of the trash box. "Have you finished here?" she asked in a tone which meant all work and no fun.

"Pretty much. The 'To take' box is full if you want to get it in the car. I'll put the trash in the dumpster and take the bag to the thrift store."

Sam lifted the smaller box and left without giving the bear a last glance. Jack slowly followed down the hallway.

They were not people to accumulate much, and the dumpster was only half full. Jack put the donation bag at his feet and dumped the trash box on top of old cushions and lawn clippings. The toy bounced, then settled, its bad leg cocked over the lid, one cloudy eye the colour of dirty water staring blindly at the sky.

Jack picked up the bear and shoved it in the bag.

**###**

"And what have we got here?"

The matronly woman gently lifted the bear and laid it on a piece of paper, the kind Jack had seen Sam use to protect their dress uniforms. She inspected the toy like a sergeant look over a recruit. "Just as I suspected. He's seen a lot of mileage."

"He?" Jack asked.

"To me, that teddy bear feels like a he. Don't you agree?"

Jack gave a non-committal grunt.

"So, you want me to restore him? Make a new bear out of him?"

"Is that even possible?"

"It does appear he was over-loved by a dog and a squadron of clothes moths during his long life. But yes, it can be done." The woman pulled the dangling leg towards her and squinted at the stitching. "Is he meant for a child?"

"No, not a child."

The woman waited patiently. One had to be patient to work in a doll repair shop, Jack assumed.

Would he be telling a big secret? "It…" He corrected himself. "He's my wife's. When she was a child." _D'oh. Ever seen a colonel buy herself a teddy bear? _"I didn't tell her I was bringing him here. I didn't know if he could be saved." That sounded like something Daniel would say. What was the right term to use then? Resurrected?

"A gift, then. I totally understand." The woman hesitated. "If he isn't going to be used as a toy, you might consider getting him mended rather going through a full restoration. It would be a pity if he was to lose his character."

That scratchy thing? Jack gave it a closer look. Yeah, the fading hair, failing eyesight, rickety leg and sagging middle could pass for character. He also could see he was getting rather attached to that bear.

"Whatever you think is best," he said. Ten years at the SGC and he had learnt to heed the advice of experts.

"Good. I don't have much on my plate at the moment, so I can start working on him this afternoon. The job won't take more than a few days. Will that be alright?"

That would be cutting it short. Sam was due to move to Atlantis within the week, although the exact date had not yet been finalised. "That's fine. Thank you."

The shopkeeper took Jack's details, then tilted her head as if waiting for him to say goodbye to the toy. "Interested in looking at how I spin my miracles?" she asked instead with a smile.

"Yeah, sure," he said. Lunch with Sam was in thirty minutes. He had plenty of time to kill.

The back of the shop was full of dolls in various poses and stages of undress. Many had limbs missing or no heads. Jack felt a shiver go down his spine. This was creepier than facing the Goa'uld or even the replicators.

She showed him to a small laundry to the side. "First, I'll empty the old stuffing, and wash him in a bubble bath to get rid of the dirt and give the hair some fluff. Will help with the smell too. Then he'll be on a drying rack for a couple of days." Three bedraggled teddy bears laid on towels, looking like wet cats. "If he was in a better shape, I would put him in the dryer, but I don't want to risk it."

"Of course not," Jack said, nodding sagely.

"Then I'll check all the seams and sew them back again, and start on the new stuffing. I might also need to do some patchwork where the fabric is a bit thin. But before that, I'll have to replace the eyes. I assume you aren't after a one-eyed bear."

Jack looked at the toy which had somehow gotten back in his hands, and shook his head. "Maybe not."

"I agree. Two eyes will suit him better. I've got a few replacement beads which will do just right. You don't want them too new."

"Whatever you say." _Wouldn't mind a new pair of eyes myself_.

"What about the badges on its chest? Do you want to keep them?"

"Yes." That he was sure of.

**###**

Sam was feeling a bit peeved. Granted she couldn't take much personal stuff with her on her first inter-galaxy mission, but still. After all, Daniel had managed to bring her a stack of CDs on the latest research on the Wraiths. Of course, he was not the expert on them, he had blabbered, but some of his ideas and speculations might be useful and… She had pulled him into a hug before he had the time to launch into a two-gigabyte summary.

"Thank you, Daniel. And if there's anything at all you want to tell me, Atlantis is just a hop away."

"I know, it's just…It's not going to be the same without you here."

Teal'c had already said his goodbyes. He had given her a bashaak, the Jaffa training weapon. She could never have his strength but her agility and determination had won her more than a few of their training bouts over the years. A thoughtful gift from the thoughtful Jaffa.

She was already missing them both.

Sighing, she emptied the contents of her regulation-size bag in the drawers. Her quarters on Atlantis were huge, palatial even, with daylight pouring in, a massive pot plant in the corner, and a weird looking floor-to-ceiling sculpture. It was going to take time to make that space hers. Maybe Jack had thought she shouldn't feel too much at home on Atlantis. She could understand the feelings, but still…

She took a photo frame of her and Jack at the cabin out of one of the boxes surrounding her and put it on a shelf near the desk, wondering when she would be able to steal a few days of leave to go fishing together.

A tap on the door made her turn around.

"A package for you, Colonel. Express from the SGC."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Put it on the bed."

"Yes, Ma'am."

The container had her name written in a script she easily recognised. Ripping the brown paper, she found a card also written in Jack's next-to-illegible hand-writing. 'A little something to remind you of home. Sorry he missed your departure. Hope you'll have a great time together.'

She opened the cardboard box. The toy she had been so quick to dismiss from her adult life was looking at her with clear dark brown eyes. It's only when she picked it up that she noticed the miniature silver eagle on its shoulder, and a small SG-1 patch sewn next to the academy blue flag, right where its heart should be.

Lifting the bear to her cheek, Sam breathed in deeply and smiled at the smell of Jack's aftershave.

* * *

_My normal fandom is Star Trek Voyager, but I do love Jack and Sam too. I am currently working on a crossover SG1- x Star Trek Voyager _Earth Is But An Idea _at: s/13194637/1/Earth-Is-But-An-Idea ._


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